Remember those “anti-drug” commercials from a couple years ago? I thought it was a pretty good message for kids, but at the time, I couldn’t personally relate to it at all. When I was a teenager, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to do drugs… All the reasons just seemed so un-JR. I didn’t really care about being “cool”, I didn’t want to “escape” from anything, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to risk my future by getting thrown in jail. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I finally understood… I know it sounds cliche, but after a really bad breakup with my highschool sweetheart, I hurt so bad I just wanted to forget about everything. It was the first time that I realized why someone would take drugs – to make the pain go away. While I never allowed myself to seriously entertain the thought of using drugs to escape, it was a HUGE epiphany in my life to finally understand why people make bad decisions in troubled times… I was working at an ice-rink in Addison during the breakup, and playing hockey was the only thing that made me forget about all the crap I was feeling. The ice became my safe-haven, my therapist, my friend, my anti-drug…

As corny as it is, nothing else in my life equalizes me like playing hockey. I can simultaneously banish all the stress and bad chi from my body while refreshing my mind at the same time. It’s almost a zen-like meditative state when I’m on the ice… the Tao of JR. Haha.

I think the world would be a better place if everyone had their own ice rink.